NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- The USS Gerald R. Ford isn't only the Navy's most advanced aircraft carrier, but it is also a big community with around 2,600 sailors on board the ship. Some of those sailors are from right here in southeastern Virginia.

"When you run into somebody that's from the same general area as you, you immediately have this friendship that you didn't know you had," said Petty Officer 1st Class Justin Jenkins.

"It's really nice to meet someone from home," added Petty Officer 3rd Class Cenise Brown. Jenkins is from Franklin, and Brown went to elementary school in Suffolk.